Revell 1:144 767 - Delta Airlines

[Roadrunner]

As has become an annual tradition with me, I always try to start a brand new kit on December 31^st, the last of the old and the first of the new, as it were. To that end, I was gifted with this nifty Revell AG 767 airliner model a couple of weeks ago, which I will begin tonight. Later, we’ll begin our annual pig fest, this years menu being boiled shrimp, meatballs and small sausages in BBQ sauce, three different cheeses, chips and crackers, all washed down with some ice cold Fitz’s root beer, a local favorite.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Roadrunner

[Roadrunner]

Markings will be Delta Airlines, as that’s what I have (though I like several other liveries), with window decals by ATP, though I may order some nifty Nazca decals for the windows, as they’re more “interesting”. I may (or may not) cover the bottom with Bare-Metal foil, then spray some metalizers to try and give the impression of raw aluminum.

[Jim B]

Should be a nice project.  How are these Revell AG airliner kits?  I've only built an ancient Airfix 1/144 Lockheed L1011.

[Roadrunner]

Should be a nice project.  How are these Revell AG airliner kits?  I've only built an ancient Airfix 1/144 Lockheed L1011.

They're gorgeous, if not alway altogether accurate, at least the 767 anyway.

[Roadrunner]

Wings are straight as an arrow. This is good to see, as in some kits, they're apparently warped pretty bad.

[Roadrunner]

Some good progress made on this last night. I added .015 backing strips to window area for putty to follow, assembled nose gear well, and epoxied a fishing weight inside nose.

[Roadrunner]

Fuselage got all taped up after gluing major seams. It looks like there's a groove in the seam, because there is. I usually bevel one surface to assist with gluing and provide a shallow V shaped trench to ensure a 100% complete putty filling job.

[Roadrunner]

My example seems remarkably straight. On some airliners I've built, the vertical stab looks all twisted and warped, not so with this baby.

[The70judgeman]

I like the window backing trick.  Guess I'll have to find window decal sets for all of mine so I can fill the center fuselage seam. I have a collection of commercial airliners to build myself. All of which I've flown on in the past.

[Roadrunner]

I puttied one up without the backing once, and then putty started pushing through into the interior during all the  handling that's required during finishing, so I said "no more"; been using this method ever since.

[Roadrunner]

I also took a stab at the stabs.   Had them all zipped up that night, but forgot to post them here.

[Roadrunner]

Wings got the same treatment. I almost messed up and sanded off the wing tip trailing edge lights, but caught myself in time.

[Roadrunner]

OK, with everything dry now, time for the test fit. I really don't know why I bother though, the Revell kit parts fit so well, that the wings can easily be attached later, after all the painting and decaling is finished.

[Roadrunner]

Straight as straight can be. Perhaps I just lucked out, Kev. The one problem that I've consistently had with these 767 kits, is the inboard trailing edge flaps are always bent, I think they have been on every Revell 767 kit that I've worked worked on.

[Roadrunner]

And the window puttying begins. This will obviously need another coat, maybe more.

[Roadrunner]

I've somewhat arbitrarily decided that these GE engines are not so bad, and that with a little effort, they can be made to look quite acceptable, even if not necessarily accurate. To that end, I've cut the forward portion of the cowls off, so that I can more easily eliminate the nasty seam on interior. While doing this, I cut one too short (the one on the right) and ruined it, so I'll have to scavenge one from one of my other kits.

[Roadrunner]

Fortunately, I was able to source one from another kit. Slightly different color, but it'll be fine.

[Jim B]

Nice progress.

[Roadrunner]

Thanks, Jim. It'll be a nice break from all the military stuff I do.

[Jim B]

Are you going to model it with the gear up or down?

[Roadrunner]

Are you going to model it with the gear up or down?

Gear down. That's why I epoxied the nose weight in. Otherwise, it's a bit of a tail setter.

[Jim B]

Oh, right.  Duh! 

Have you seen these: http://www.spruemaster.com/blog/downloads/texturas/  (Yes, I know, it's in Portuguese.)  They're downloadable bases.  Most are in 1/72, but they should be able to be used in 1/144 if they're reduced.  Well, that's the theory, anyway.

[Roadrunner]

Yep, there are some gorgeous airliner specific bases available. Most of these in the provided link are of course military in nature, but the printed base concept has certainly caught on, big time. The downside of an "at the gate" type base, is there are virtually no vehicles available to place in the vicinity for scale reference. It was never my intent to build a diorama or anything, but vehicles would certainly be nice.

[Roadrunner]

It's also come to my attention that the big GE engines are too short in length, so I'll be adding a ring of material at the rear of the detached cowl fronts to stretch them somewhat.

[Roadrunner]

Not a lot done here, but at least a little. All windows and major seams have now been puttied up and sanding (lots of sanding) has commenced.